Curcumin alleviates Aβ indcuced neurotoxicity and vice versa without removing amyloid deposits in transgenic Drosophila

• Curcumin has been proposed to facilitate clearance of toxic amyloid formed by the Aβ peptide. To further address this notion, different concentrations of curcumin were tried for its effects in various Drosophila Alzheimer’s disease (AD) models. This study entailed five different Drosophila AD models (four Aβ expressing lines, and one tau expressing line), expressing the AD associated proteins using the Gal4/UAS system. These were assayed for several aspects of neurological impairment, including survival, climbing behavior, as well as locomotor activity. In addition, amyloid deposition was assessed by histological analysis. Curcumin treatment substantially prolonged the lifespan and improved climbing and locomotor activity for flies with severe disease geneotypes (Aβ1-42 E22G and double expressing Aβ1-42). In comparison, curcumin feeding of control flies resulted in a concentration-dependent shortened lifespan, whereas no such toxic side effects were found for AD genotypes with a mild phenotype (single expressors of Aβ1-40 and Aβ1-42). All flies expressing Aβ and tau displayed a higher total locomotor activity, and a continuation of the activity over a larger number of hours upon curcumin treatment. Unexpectedly, no change in tissue amyloid deposition upon curcumin treatment was observed. In vitro fibrillation of Aβ1-42, followed by Western blot and transmission electron microscopy in the presence and absence of curcumin, displayed enhanced fibrillation into large aggregates and decreased population of oligomers in curcumin samples. The decrease in oligomer formation by curcumin may explain why it increases the lifespan and activity without removing of the amyloid deposits seen in tissues. We also suggest that Aβ, at least in the context of Drosophila, functions as a chemical detoxifier sequestering curcumin and thereby mitigating its toxicity.

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